Acer Aspire 1802

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 15 Apr 2005
This is listed as a notebook, however I think 'Desktop Replacement' would be a better description for several reasons.

Bliss from Rose

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 11 Apr 2005
Not as you may think some ‘X’ rated offering, but a KVM switch at a bargain price, a simple and efficient way of controlling two PC’s with a single keyboard, video and mouse.
Focus have been a republisher of many years standing. Here they link two products from the same publisher, both have been around for a long time, however at £9.99 they are certainly worth considering.
Chessmaster has been around in one form or other for a long time it is actually a UBISOFT product but this version is republished by Focus at £9.99 and for that you get quite a lot.

Portable Data Storage

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by mfereday on 31 Mar 2005
Carrying over 2000 five mega-pixel images in your pocket might seem like a pipe-dream but Seagate has a solution.
This is powerful top of the range PC with all the bells and whistles, it is also one of the first PC’s on the market built with a LightScribe DVD drive.
Watching television on your computer does have some attractions if the hardware can handle the performance.

Burning and Printing

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by mfereday on 13 Mar 2005
Following my earlier report on LightScribe, let’s take a look at the technology in action.

canon pixma iP90 printeCanon Pixma iP90

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 9 Mar 2005
Certainly a lightweight and small printer, however given the small ink cartridge size this portable printer may also need to be used sparingly.

evesham ebox pvEvesham E Box

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 7 Mar 2005
This is the unit hinted at in my three recent articles on Windows XP MCE 2005 edition and the large HP Panel. Members have asked about MCE here I give my views.
Without - hopefully - giving to much away, this to me is an "object of desire" I first saw a pre production unit last summer and I am told I have looked at the first one in the UK. You can see it for yourself during the next three weeks or so on the Abrocour stand at the Ideal Home Show.

Nero 6 Reloaded

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 11 Feb 2005
There are a number of CD/DVD writing packages around but only two can claim to be the major players, Nero and CD Creator, Nero has just got even better.

canon pixma ip3000 printeCanon Pixma iP3000

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 6 Feb 2005
I reviewed the sibling to this (iP2000) last year, although this came out at the same time the media recommended to work with it’s CD/DVD printing capabilities has only just arrived.

HP 2550l Colour Laser

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 30 Jan 2005
Colour lasers used to be very expensive, now they can cost less than some not that complex mono lasers. The HP 2550 is certainly an entry level product.

Argosy ‘Photo Drive’

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 26 Jan 2005
120GB of external storage in a slim vertical case that also has two USB2 ports and even a couple of card drives built in.
It is slim, sleek and has a sexy look. However according to recent reports it could have an adverse effect on male fertility but let’s not think about such things instead look on this device as a mobile entertainment centre.
This unit will read and write 17 different card types, yes I said 17 and I must admit I did not even know there were 17 different card types.

HP Laserjet 1160

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 21 Jan 2005
Laserjets first arrived over twenty years ago, my first was a ‘2P’ with the P standing for personal. It’s strange how you remember your first laser printer.
A flat panels display is always the measurement stated, a monitor is normally at least an inch less than stated, also a flat panel will alway take up far less space.

Hauppauge WinTV-USB2

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by mfereday on 15 Jan 2005
Watching television programs on your computer monitor has never been easier.

HP Laserjet 1320nw

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 7 Jan 2005
The HP Laser first appeared over 20 years ago, how those who purchased an early offering would have loved what is inside this small box.
We all like a bargain especially at this time of year and this one sounded so good I checked the price twice and they even offer free delivery.
With the variety of card types on the market the easiest way is to have a card reader that will read all the range of card types.
An All-In-One has the big advantage of having a printer, scanner and copy machine taking up little more space than a printer alone.

HP PSC 2355

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 3 Dec 2004
It’s a printer, a scanner and a copier, more commonly called an All In One or a Multi Function unit. This is an inkjet offering that performs all the tasks above and best of all takes up little space.
It makes sense to have a range of Security products for the PC from one company. Perhaps even better to have them in a single integrated package.

Targus Rodents

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 25 Nov 2004
Targus are a company more famous for there bags for notebooks but they also do some other items among these are rodents, here I am looking at two small offerings.
Need a closer look at images? Then a Microsoft piece of kit could provide the answer.

Two Adobe Essentials

Published in Laptops/PCs/Apple by paul_smart on 23 Nov 2004
What is £69.95 + £69.95 the answer in this case is £99.95, not bad maths but the price for the two products purchased separately against being acquired in the same box.
This 21.3inch panel can be used either portrait or landscape and is easily big enough to display two pages of a Word document side by side. That however is only a small part of it’s abilities.